Knee issues, heavy rider, good power, 1500gbp budget help please

[Fatterbike]

Hello everyone

so I’m a large chap at 150kg but going down. I have had severe knee issues meaning exercising has been difficult and weight crept up.

im looking for an bike that’s comfortable and has some power. Higher hills where I live.
I saw the wispers are 120 Nm from their own motors but they are just twice what I can afford at 1500 gbp.

I’ve seen lots on amazon and my social feeds full of different makes.

could I have suggestions please for makes and models to consider? Power is key as I’m big as are the hills.
Thanks so much

 

[Fatterbike]

Thanks. Seen that the himiway pro 7 and whisper wayfare seem to have 120 and 100 Nm mid crank motors. I can find out lots on himiway but no Facebook groups etc for whisper. Are they super small?

also fat bike over commuter ?

thanks everyone.

 

[Woosh]

I would not recommend fat bikes for commuting. Punctures are a problem, and you can't have puncture proof tyres on fat bikes.

 

[Saracen]

Hello everyone

so I’m a large chap at 150kg but going down. I have had severe knee issues meaning exercising has been difficult and weight crept up.

im looking for an bike that’s comfortable and has some power. Higher hills where I live.
I saw the wispers are 120 Nm from their own motors but they are just twice what I can afford at 1500 gbp.

I’ve seen lots on amazon and my social feeds full of different makes.

could I have suggestions please for makes and models to consider? Power is key as I’m big as are the hills.
Thanks so much

I am serious here, I came off my bike YEARS ago, fell on my knee, 20 years later (65) , pain, co-codamol, doctor said oncoming age related Knee osteoarthritis in joint, I was at one time 21 stone, last year I went down to 14 stone I have NO pain at all.

First thing to do would be lose weight not find something to make cycling easier and does not benefit weight loss and health.

Was it easy, no, it took a year, I have never been healthier.

 

[guerney]

I was at one time 21 stone, last year I went down to 14 stone I have NO pain at all.

Bloody hell you've done well. I lost another 4lbs last week - I now weigh less than I did aged 25. Unfortunately, I don't feel 25. Feeling 25 will lead to divorce.

 

[jedd]

A throttle is good though if you're starting off on a steep hill.It can take the initial pressure off dodgy knees.Once moving you can get peddling and let the assistance take over

 

[Tony1951]

A throttle is going to do nothing for fitness, or help drop body weight, and while the OP has knee problems, a bit of exercise will do more towards getting a bit of weight off, than a bicycle shaped moped will ever do.
Less body weight is less strain on the knees(+hips, ankles etc)

I wish the OP well in his enjoyment of biking and attempts at weight loss. That said while exercise is always good for you, it is not the way to lose weight except when extraordinary amounts of exercise is concerned. Even an unpowered bike with an average weight rider oedalled at about twelve miles an hour consumes approximately 35 calories a mile . That approximates to about a pound of flesh lost in a hundred mile ride as long as the rider does not eat any more than a normal amount of food. The ONLY way to lose weight for most of us who can't ride a hundred miles a day is to eat much less than normal. A pound of fat burned requires that you don't eat 3500 calories your body needed. It's hard, but it does work. One of my sons is a big lad in every meaning of the term big. Probably 23 stone. He has several times reduced his weight by 6 stone by eating about 1200 calories day - then he goes back to his bad ways and over time it comes back.

This is not meant to discourage our new friend Fatterbike. I hope he will get a lot out of biking . It is one of the very best ways to start feeling cheerful on a down day and always puts a smile on the face as well as being very good for the heart and vascular system. It won't hurt his bad knee on the hills either I hope.

 

[guerney]

A throttle is good though if you're starting off on a steep hill.It can take the initial pressure off dodgy knees.Once moving you can get peddling and let the assistance take over

I've adjusted to cope without a throttle. Provided I start on a low gear, on my bike assistance starts quickly, and acceleration is fast with a mid-motor driving 20" wheels. Unanticipated and unprepared for stops can be a problem though - the other night I had to re-start on my highest gear when I heard this police car approaching at some mad speed, and I'd pulled over for safety - had to stand on the pedals to get moving again. The motor assistance had no problem starting on my highest gear.

 

[Tony1951]

I've adjusted to cope without a throttle. Provided I start on a low gear, on my bike assistance starts quickly, and acceleration is fast with a mid-motor driving 20" wheels. Unanticipated and unprepared for stops can be a problem though - the other night I had to re-start on my highest gear when I heard this police car approaching at some mad speed, and I'd pulled over for safety - had to stand on the pedals to get moving again. The motor assistance had no problem starting on my highest gear.


View attachment 57345

That is the great beauty of hub gears like the Sturmey Archer. They change while stopped - though they might not like the torque of your crank motor. The answer of course while stopped in too high a gear, is to move your derailleur arm into a lower gear position, lift up the back wheel and operate the pedal with the wheel off the ground. Pain in the wot not, but it will get you away again in that situation.

 

[guerney]

That is the great beauty of hub gears like the Sturmey Archer. They change while stopped - though they might not like the torque of your crank motor.

Yep, I doubt it'd last very long on my bike, especially now with the controller at 18A... probably 20A soon.

The answer of course while stopped in too high a gear, is to move your derailleur arm into a lower gear position, lift up the back wheel and operate the pedal with the wheel off the ground. Pain in the wot not, but it will get you away again in that situation.

...and that's why I always wear at least one glove. I wash the grease off every so often.

 

[Tony1951]

Yep, I doubt it'd last very long on my bike, especially now with the controller at 18A... probably 20A soon.

I'd be quite interested in doing an experiment on that idea to see what the SA hub can handle. They are quite cheap. In fact I have at least three of them knocking about in storage. Two have done some service, but one is in a small 16 inch wheel which I got as an unused spare from a guy who was converting a Merc fake Brompton into a fixie and didn't want the hub gears. It has never been run.

I bet it might take the strain of the 250 watt motor and if not, the cost is not that much. Could be wrong, but it would be a laugh to try it.

 

[guerney]

I'd be quite interested in doing an experiment on that idea to see what the SA hub can handle. They are quite cheap. In fact I have at least three of them knocking about in storage. Two have done some service, but one is in a small 16 inch wheel which I got as an unused spare from a guy who was converting a Merc fake Brompton into a fixie and didn't want the hub gears. It has never been run.

I bet it might take the strain of the 250 watt motor and if not, the cost is not that much. Could be wrong, but it would be a laugh to try it.

Yes that would be interesting with the 36V controller at 20A = 720W and "Keep current" at 100% in firmware. Go for it on your fako Brompton, you shouldn't need to fold it completely.

 

[Tony1951]

Yes that would be interesting with the 36V controller at 20A = 720W. Go for it on your fako Brompton, you shouldn't need to fold it.

The fako Brompton has not been ridden for ten years at least. Thinking about it, I am not sure you could fit a BBS01 on one of those wee folders. One of the worst features of the fake B as against my proper one is that the brakes were awful on it. Very different to the proper B. Don't fancy the bad brakes + motor combo really. I also have a great original rod brake Raleigh Superb in near mint condition. It would be a crime to mess with that machine, but the chrome rims and stirrup brake operated by levers and rods is more than exciting already on a wet day. It would be criminal butchery to mess with that machine.

 

[saneagle]

Bloody hell you've done well. I lost another 4lbs last week - I now weigh less than I did aged 25. Unfortunately, I don't feel 25. Feeling 25 will lead to divorce.

only 4. i lost 20 pounds last week. i think it was near the bus station in Telford. If anybody finds it, I need it to feed the dog. That's all he eats.

 

[guerney]

only 4. i lost 20 pounds last week. i think it was near the bus station in Telford. If anybody finds it, I need it to feed the dog. That's all he eats.

Would your dog eat my arm? The NHS BMI calculator says I should lose yet another 7lbs, at least. And that's after having lost 3 stones 10lbs over the past two years.

Calculate your body mass index (BMI) - NHS

Check your BMI to find out if you’re a healthy weight for your height.

www.nhs.uk

 

[Peter.Bridge]

I think I slightly disagree, an electric bike is almost unique in that it allows you to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone for a long period of time without you getting bored and if you combine that with a sensible diet it will aid losing weight

 

[Tony1951]

I think I slightly disagree, an electric bike is almost unique in that it allows you to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone for a long period of time without you getting bored and if you combine that with a sensible diet it will aid losing weight

Metabolism in exercise is a matter of how much oxygen you burn and use in your muscles. This can easily be measured accurately in a lab on an exercise bike, calibrated to allow for wind resistance. The rider is put on the bike with a mask and his Oxygen consumption is measured. Itis a FACT that the energy consumption of an average weight rider on a bicycle is 35 to 50 calories per mile.

One pound of flesh / fat lost requires that the individual does without 3500 calories of food intake or burns an extra 3500 calories of energy (measured by oxygen consumption). That equates to 70 to 100 miles of cycling at 12 miles an hour or missing out on about two days worth of food.

Fat burning mode is nonsense. We burn fat when we are hungry and the body starts consuming its stores. That only happens when we deprive ourselves of food. There is a lot of nonsense talked and written about this subject.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

No - Zone 2 training is elevating your heart rate to a level where you are burning fat (which takes quite a lot of oxygen to metabolise) - at higher heart rates you start burning glycogen (which is then replenished)

Why Easy “Zone 2” Workouts Became the Biggest Thing in Fitness

Low-intensity training is great for you, no matter what your fitness tracking gadget says.

www.gq.com

 

[guerney]

Fat burning mode is nonsense. We burn fat when we are hungry and the body starts consuming its stores. That only happens when we deprive ourselves of food. There is a lot of nonsense talked and written about this subject.

I agree. The reason why I managed to lose 4lbs last week instead of my usual 2lbs by intermittent fasting, were two 36 hour fasting periods instead of my usual 24 hours over 5 days. Losing weight through exercise later in life is for macho fat ill fantasists on medication, who will remain fat ill deluded and pill happy, until they die an early unpleasant death having lived an overly short unsatisfactory increasingly painful life, having cost the rest of us dear via the NHS.

At least 7lbs to go, it aint easy.

 

[Woosh]

Your body burns a lot more calories to keep itself warm while riding ebikes compared to heat produced by the muscle effort.

 

[Tony1951]

No - Zone 2 training is elevating your heart rate to a level where you are burning fat (which takes quite a lot of oxygen to metabolise) - at higher heart rates you start burning glycogen (which is then replenished)

Why Easy “Zone 2” Workouts Became the Biggest Thing in Fitness

Low-intensity training is great for you, no matter what your fitness tracking gadget says.

www.gq.com

Of course more work output uses more energy. This is not in dispute and is obvious. Nevertheless, my statement that the only way to lose weight is to use more calories than you take in stands.

Riding an ordinary bicycle at 12 miles an hour without assistance burns 35 - 50 kcals a mile if the individual is or ordinary weight. It is a fact, carefully measured and indisputable. It is also a fact that that extra weight I carry (BMI 26) amounts to 3500 kcals per pound. If I want to lose it by cycling, I have to do a lot of miles (establishable by a simple calculation. If I do those miles on an electric bike, at least half the effort is being done by an electric motor NOT ME. This makes the required work output equate to a very large distance covered since my input is less than on an ordinary bike at the same speed and distance.

I don't see what is controversial.

Another problem is that heart rate per se is not the only issue. People's cardio vascular efficiency differs. Bradley Wiggins heart rate at the same work output will be a LOT less than mine. In time with a great deal of cardio work, even my cardio efficiency wan be improved.

These matters are much more complex than most personal trainers and gym people know or even dream of.